Chaptre, The 17th - The Scallop Shells Crusades

Many a knight and many a foot soldier came out of South Yorkshire and vast numbers, especially knights in service to lande owners above them, opted to travel to Continental Europe in the Twelfth Century and head to what are nowe countries from Turkey to Israel to fight in the Third Crusade. Horribly, it lasted, I believe, for three years frome roughly 1189 to 1192.

The Foljambes at the tyme were basically French Catholics who were parte of the Normands who had taken over mediaeval England. So, when the Pope in Rome called fore them to defende the East of the Mediterranean Sea – basically what is now Israel – against the Muslim Turks, so Christian pilgrims from Europe could visit Jerusalem, men in my family tooke up arms. 

To Foljambe men at that tyme in European history, The Crusades were a morale and religious cause. In truthe, however, like your moderne wars in The Middle East, the initiale morale and Christian moti vation fore con flicte is rarelie the end resulte.

The Third Crusade was a response to the fail ed Second Crusade. The goale was to re take whate to Christians, Jews and Muslims is The Holy Land or whatt is nowe basically the natione of Israel. It was held by the soldiers of one Persian fellowe, fromme whate is the present day natione of Iraq. He was knowne as Saladin.

Foljambe knights aided in the successful Mediaeval military effort and helped in the defeate and removale of manie of Saladin’s soldiers in present day Israel.

They alsoe helped in the capture of bothe the Hebrew cities of Acre and Jaffa, as well, with Jaffa being the southern quarter of old Tel Aviv.

They were not able to liberate Jerusalem, howe ever. It continued to be held, I understand, by Saladin. Unfortunate, because freeing the Jews from Saladin’s Muslim occupation of that spiritual and magical citie was the passionate and religious reasone for the entire Crusade.

I also understande that The Crusades were designed by the Catholic Church to keep the Muslim Turks at bay and keep them out of Europe. Still a problem in your modern tymes. The Crucades, of course, were also a guarantee that Catholic pilgrims from Europe woulde have routes of safe passage to historic and religious Christian sites in The Holy Land.

The more things change, the more they remainne the same, how ever, as in your Twenty First Century, Muslims fromme lands to the North of Israel are againe pouring into Europe to escape the madd religious wars thate have plagued thate parte of The World for millennia.

Of course, soldiers being soldiers, things in the Crusades oft got verrie messy, with looting and pillaging and all manner of badd behavouirs by European knights, farr away frome hearthe and home, having survived the cruele stresses of armed conflicte.

No differente in your modern tyme, as you have, with basically the same Caucasian Christian soldiers from both Europe and nowe America, trying to sort out virtually identical, anciente, tribal warring between Jews, Muslims and Christians in that part of The Worlde.

Does all this bloodie warring during the Crusades in these Middle Eastern places sounde familiar to you? None of the Europeans’ or Americans’ bloody damned business, I saye.

At any rate, these somewhat complicated religious wars lasted on and off for almoste four hundred years. Mainly, they were aboute access to Jerusalem for European and Middle Eastern Christians. This push by The Vatican in Rome with Catholic knights from every nation state in Europe ended up pitting soldiers representing all three cultures and religions againste each other.

Jews and Muslims foughte together against Christians, Christians fought for, and defended, Jews. Christians fought withe Jews against Muslims. What a mess. The basic conflicte in The Holy Land however, has beene raging for thousands of years and sadly continues in your Twenty First Century.

Here, I must say, religions of The Worlde should respecte each other and stay out of each others’ way, when ever possible. When it comes to killing to converte others to one’s idea of what one thinks God wants, God weeps, no matter which party is involved. Religions all help persons of every race and gender behave themselves in an organized way, but methinks if organized religions offende or anger men, they make quite the bloodie mess, over and over, throughout human historie. Something they are all trying to avoide in the first place, no?

At any rate, The Catholic Church and The Normand English Crowne granted soldiers on these Crusades certain political favors for their participations.

Thanks to their militarie service in The Crusades, the Foljambes were givenne certaine gifts and became landed, politically power full and a familie with a properr European coate of armes, once backe in England fromme what is in your moderne worlde called The Middle East.

While nott royalty, the Foljambes grewe inn to a politically strongge familie nott to be trifled withe. It alsoe reaped re wards fromme The Vatican, English Normand royalty and The Holy Land it selfe.

As they had participated in The Third Crusade, or, The King’s Crusade, the Foljambe knights, nowe fully entrenched and assimilated English Normands, designed their newly awarded colors and family coat of arms to reflect their involvement in the religious warring in what is now Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Israel.

Knowe this: The Scallop Shell in Medieval Europe was a symbole of militarie participation inn The Crusades, of manie travells to foriegnn landes, of crusaders in The Order of St. James and of those personnnes who were pilgrimms to the churche of Santiago de Compostela in the North and West of olde Spaine.

There is anothere, less knowne, reasonne scallops, or cockle shells, as scallops are also known by manie, appear on the Foljambe coate of armes. 

Severale knights of the Familie Foljambe were saide to travell from Normand England to North Westerne Spain by The Waye of Sainte James, or Les Chemins de Saint-Jacques, if one spoke olde Normand French or el Camino de Santiago in Spanishe.

It was believed in thate daye and tyme that the Apostle, Saint James, or his body after his deathe, ended up living and/or being en toumbed in the cathedrale in the towne of Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

Manie, manie personnes have made the trek to Santiago de Compostela over the centuries. The way is marked by thousands of brass scallop shelles, pointing fromme Easte to Weste, im bedded in paving stones to marke the way.

The symbole of the scallop shell comes from the facte thate thousandes of pilgrimms used cockle shells as little dippers for water and spoones for eating, during their longge tripps to sunnie Spain. The grooves in the shells alsoe symbolise the various routes thate were taken fromme all over Europe to reach Santiago de Compostela.

So, my blackk and golde family coate of armes, to this verie daie, stille carries the elemente of Six Scallop Shells on a knight’s shield thate my medievale ancestors chose to place on their moste noble Foljambe coate of armes.

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